Indian Students Develop Bra That Electrocutes Assailants

A group of Indian engineering students have designed a wearable solution to a terrible problem: a bra that can give a would-be rapist a literal 3800kv shock.

Manisha Mohan, a student at SRM University in Chennai, saw the aftermath of the gang rape and murder of a student, and how reluctant the government was to help. So she and two friends, Niladhri Basu Bal and Rimpi Tripathi, decided to use their scientific knowledge to provide a form of protection.

The bra, referred to by Mohan and her colleagues as Society Harnessing Equipment (SHE) can not only electrocute an attacker, but also text for help.

It works by having the electrical circuit connected to a pressure sensor, which only detects certain levels of pressure to avoid the wearer accidentally shocking themselves. As Mohan told the BBC:

"Firstly, the system is placed in a bi-layer fabric, which ensures insulation to the victim."

"Also the pressure values for squeeze, pinch and grab have been calibrated. The force applied on hugging does not satisfy the conditions for actuation of the device, and there is also a self-actuation switch where a woman can actuate it by herself when in unsafe environment."

Mohan is currently working on streamlining the electrical components of the design to make it more practical, and plans to sell it if all goes well.

"My vision is to see every women walking confidently on the streets in all parts of the world, even at odd hours," she says.

We can all agree that this is a very worthwhile goal. It's simply a shame that so many apparently need an electric shock to convince them not to attack and violate others.

Jason England

I am the Founder and Editor-in-chief of New Rising Media. You can follow me on Twitter @MrJasonEngland.

Lasers Used to Levitate Nanodiamonds

We don't generally associate light with the ability to push or pull objects, it is just not a phenomenon we can easily observe. A team at the University of Rochester, however, have used this ability to trap and levitate tiny specs of diamonds.

Stanford Scientists Develop Pressure-Sensitive, Self-Healing 'E-Skin'

While work continues to be carried out on material that could ‘bruise’ to signal levels of damage (posing a future where the iPhone distorts in colour as wear and tear occurs), chemists and engineers at Stanford say they are on their way to developing a new ‘e-skin’ synthetic material that is not only sensitive to the touch, but also self-healing.

A team of international researchers have used a form of electro stimulation called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to release endrogenous opioids - the human body's most powerful painkillers that are similar in strength to morphine.

This noninvasive procedure is especially significant and rather scary, as this is an immediate natural high, which can be accessed using damp sponges on your scalp, attached to a 9-volt battery.

Scientists Create Real-Life 'Tractor Beam.' Star Trek Becomes Reality

A team of scientists from Scotland and the Czech Republic has created a real-life “tractor” beam, as featured in the Star Trek movies, which for the first time allows a beam of light to attract objects.

Researchers at the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology have succeeded in developing a robotic camera system equipped with muscle-like action that replicates the muscle motion of the human eye in ways never before seen. It is hoped the milestone will eventually make robotic tools safer, as well as making camera feeds from robots more intuitive to use.